The present invention relates generally to improvements in safety belt retractor devices and it relates more particularly to an improved automatic locking belt retractor reel of the belt carried type.
There are generally two broad types of automatic locking safety belt retractor reels which are widely employed, one in which the reel device is anchored directly to the vehicle body and the other in which the reel device is carried by the free end of the safety belt, the opposite end of the belt being anchored to the vehicle. While the vehicle mounted type of safety belt reel has many advantages, it possesses an important drawback in that being of relatively large size or bulk, it cannot be installed in many vehicles because of the lack of sufficient space and as a consequence, retrator reel devices of the second type must be used. However, while many forms of automatic locking belt carried retractor wheels have been heretofore, proposed, they leave much to be desired. Typical of such retractor reels is that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,227,489 to Stubblefield in which an articulated body member includes a buckle coupling tongue section and a retractor wheel mounting section which are swingably pivoted to each other, the locking and unlocking of the belt being responsive to the angular relationship of the two sections. This latter type of reel is complex, expensive and often unreliable and inconvenient and awkward to apply and use.